Theater -- Martha Lavey

Theater -- Martha Lavey

Tribune photo by Alex Garcia

In 1995, Steppenwolf Theatre Company made Martha Lavey its acting artistic director. The acting part of that title was not a reference to Lavey's background as an actress  highly unusual for the head of a major American nonprofit theater  but an expression of impermanence. Fifteen years later, Lavey is very much a permanent fixture. And her extraordinary 2010 tellingly revealed not just how patiently Lavey has wrangled an artistic collective that even calls itself slightly dysfunctional in its own advertisements, but how forceful and cogent Lavey has been in the application of a mission crucial to the future of Chicago and the American theater. -- Chris Jones

In 1995, Steppenwolf Theatre Company made Martha Lavey its acting artistic director. The acting part of that title was not a reference to Lavey's background as an actress  highly unusual for the head of a major American nonprofit theater  but an expression of impermanence. Fifteen years later, Lavey is very much a permanent fixture. And her extraordinary 2010 tellingly revealed not just how patiently Lavey has wrangled an artistic collective that even calls itself slightly dysfunctional in its own advertisements, but how forceful and cogent Lavey has been in the application of a mission crucial to the future of Chicago and the American theater. -- Chris Jones (Tribune photo by Alex Garcia)

In 1995, Steppenwolf Theatre Company made Martha Lavey its acting artistic director. The acting part of that title was not a reference to Lavey's background as an actress  highly unusual for the head of a major American nonprofit theater  but an expression of impermanence. Fifteen years later, Lavey is very much a permanent fixture. And her extraordinary 2010 tellingly revealed not just how patiently Lavey has wrangled an artistic collective that even calls itself slightly dysfunctional in its own advertisements, but how forceful and cogent Lavey has been in the application of a mission crucial to the future of Chicago and the American theater. -- Chris Jones